On Your Mark, Get Set, Bag!

All those natural product store baggers who can whip through grocery bagging in a hurry can finally have their moment to shine. This year’s National Best Bagger Championship, scheduled for Feb.11 during the 2010 National Grocers Association (NGA) Annual Convention & Supermarket Synergy Showcase in Las Vegas, is switching from paper and plastic to reusable bags. This change is due to the increasingly popularity of reusable bags around the country, but for natural product baggers, packing these bags is old hat. I predict the years of learning the folds and habits of cloth bags will greatly benefit our industry in this match up against mass market chains. I’m expecting Sara Sandstrom from a Whole Foods in Nevada to do well this year. The dimensions are the same as the paper bag: 12 inches in length, 7 inches in width and 17 inches in height.

Contestants are judged on speed, bag-building technique, weight distribution between bags, style, attitude and appearance. This national competition is the culmination of contests all across the country, with a champion from each state eligible to enter the contest.

The winner of the 24th Annual Best Bagger Championship will receive a grand prize of $10,000. The second place winner will receive $5,000 and the third to fifth place-winners get a prize of $1,000 each.

It’s too late to enter this year’s contest, but this should give any retailers an incentive to start practicing for next year. Retailers can order the reusable bags used in the contest for use in the individual state's bagging contests and to practice. Winning this contest could give a store some major street cred, and really, who doesn’t love an excuse to go to Vegas?